Nice
by BregoArodShadowfax
Summary: Written for chamilet for the Finn/Kurt Summer Prompt Meme. The prompt was: "S2 Kurt and Finn are sharing a bedroom. Finn walks in on Kurt while he is changing and notices horrible bruising on his back and marks that look just like the reverse imprint of the vents on their school lockers..." Very light Finn/Kurt


**Title:** Nice  
**Author:** AoiTsukikage  
**Rating:** PG-13 at most  
**Characters/Pairing:** Very light Finn/Kurt, pre-slash if you squint  
**Chapter:** 1/1  
**Word Count:** ~1300  
**Summary: **Written for chamilet for the Finn/Kurt Summer Prompt Meme. The prompt was: "S2 Kurt and Finn are sharing a bedroom. Finn walks in on Kurt while he is changing and notices horrible bruising on his back and marks that look just like the reverse imprint of the vents on their school lockers..."

**Nice**

The first time Finn sees it it's almost too quick to register, just a flash of mottled yellow-and-green on otherwise perfectly pale, creamy skin that's covered up by a shirt and a barely-there wince, and Finn doesn't say anything. He's still a little nervous about Kurt being naked around him even though he knows the other boy isn't going to jump him. Kurt's been cold lately, flinching away from every touch and barely speaking to Finn although they still share the same bedroom, and Finn kind of hates it.

But right now, there's nothing he can do.

000

The second time is during their Halloween performance of 'Rocky Horror,' when Finn's backstage at rehearsals lamenting the fact that the audience has to see him in his underwear and he can see Kurt starting to change, peeling off his top and not bothering to hide the grimace of pain that crosses his face this time.

His back is a macabre canvas; black, blue and purple bruising standing out darkly and fading to muted, paler ones that tell Finn this has been going on for a long time, and there are four larger welts on Kurt's upper-back, bright pink against the bruises and it looks like he'd slammed into something.

"Kurt-" he starts, hearing the other boy gasp as he suddenly pulls his Riff-Raff jacket around his shoulders and glares at him.

"You didn't see anything," Kurt tells him with a growl before stalking into one of the changing rooms, and Finn knows something's really, _really _wrong.

000

The third time is in the locker room, Finn looking for Kurt because he's supposed to give him a ride home and he finds him shaking and crying, a hole-ridden sweater draped over a bench (and Kurt's really the only guy at the school that would wear something with holes in it and deem it 'fashion') and a wildly pattered shirt clenched in his hand, body trembling as he scoops water from the sink into his mouth and spits it out, and this time it's pretty obvious what's happened.

Well, Finn's got no idea why he's washing his mouth out, but the welts on his back are raw and look exactly like the locker vents out in the hall and yeah, he'd heard that Kurt gets slammed into the lockers but he didn't think…

"Can you…pass me my sweater, please?" Kurt turns, eyes red, and his lower lip is quivering so Finn does so wordlessly as Kurt gets his shirt back on and takes the sweater, gasping a little as he tries to get his tears under control.

"Kurt, are you…"

"C-can you take me home, please?" Kurt says slowly, eyes pleading with Finn not to ask, and Finn carefully crosses the floor and tries to ignore the wince and the little whine of pain as he pulls Kurt into a gentle hug, barely holding him. "Finn..."

"Let's go home," Finn says quietly, not wanting to make a big deal at school, but once they get home he vows he's going to get to the bottom of it.

000

"It's Karofsky," Kurt says about a week later. He'd managed to avoid Finn up until now, going to bed before Finn came downstairs and staunchly refusing to speak to it. He's been hanging out with that prep-school kid a lot, and Finn's not sure what to think about that, but it seems like everything's come to a head and Kurt's reaching out to him. "He…he's been worse lately. He slams me into the lockers every time he passes me in the hallway, and Mr. Schue…" he gulps. "He made it sound like…like I deserved it. Like if I wanted to be out and proud I'd have to deal with this…this abuse because that's just how it goes, and I…" he claps a hand over his mouth, muffling his sobs, and Finn moves closer and tries not to be surprised when Kurt's arms wrap around his middle and he cries into Finn's shirt, the first time he's voluntarily touched him in _months. _

"Hey, shh," Finn says, rubbing Kurt's arms and feeling his chest tighten. He's a horrible stepbrother-to-be, he thinks sourly, but then something reminds him that yeah, maybe he could have done something, but Kurt wasn't letting him and…and as long as he starts _now _maybe that'll make up for it. "Hey. Go take your shirt off and lie down on the bed, okay?" he says gently and Kurt laughs.

"Never thought you'd be telling me to get naked, Finn Hudson," he smiles kindly but it's not really flirty, not anymore, so he removes his shirt and goes to lie down while Finn bumbles around in the bathroom for a bit before pulling out some muscle cream his mom had bought him for football.

"I dunno if this'll help, but I've got this thing for sore muscles, and I thought…" he pauses, still not sure if he's going to be any help, but Kurt smiles at him softly so he figures that's a pretty good sign. He scoops some of the cream onto his hands, and it's cool and kind of tingles a bit, but Kurt's back is still a mess so he sets his hands gently on the smaller boy's shoulders and starts to rub, feeling Kurt relax and unfurl like a sated cat beneath him. "D'you wanna talk about it? I'll kick his ass…"

"I know you will, but no. That's not the answer," Kurt murmurs, and there's something in his tone that tells Finn he's not telling him the whole story, but…

But Kurt opening up to him at _all _is kinda amazing right now, so he'll let him tell him when he will. Until then he'll just make sure he or one of the other Glee guys is around to stop Karofsky from using Kurt as a human pinball, and that should do the trick for a little while. He owes that much to Kurt.

And speaking of Kurt, the other boy's nearly asleep, murmuring happily as Finn works his way down his back and Finn thought it might be, y'know, _weird _to be massaging his gay almost-stepbrother's body, but it's…not. He doesn't think he's any good at massages either but Kurt doesn't seem to care, a tiny half-smile on his face as his eyelashes flutter.

"Okay?"

"Feels really good," Kurt whispers, as if he's afraid talking too loud will spook Finn enough to make him run away or something. "Thank you. You didn't have to…"

"Yeah, I kinda did, dude," Finn says quietly, stopping his hands and pulling Kurt pliant body into his lap as he scoots back against the headboard, the smaller teen for once not struggling and merely curling up, resting his head on Finn's shoulder as Finn keeps stroking his back. "I promised I wouldn't let them lay a hand on you. And I kind of broke that big-time, so…I mean it this time. They're not gonna hurt you anymore."

"You're a good friend," Kurt grips at Finn's shirt collar weakly, hoisting himself up a little higher. "I…I'm sorry I've been so cold to you lately, I just…didn't want to seem weak."

"Dude, you're the strongest person I know!" Finn exclaims, a little shocked Kurt would even say that. "And everybody needs help sometimes, man. There's nothing weak about that."

"Hmm. Guess not," Kurt leans in close and Finn doesn't quite know what's going on but the boy merely kisses his cheek before curling up again and closing his eyes, comfortable and relaxed and Finn doesn't have the heart to move him.

He's trying really hard not to think about how strong his feelings are about protecting Kurt, or why his cheek is still tingling from where Kurt's lips brushed it, and pulls a blanket around both of them before trying to get some sleep, nose buried in Kurt's hair.

It's kinda…nice.


End file.
